Though Iran condemned Israel for killing civilians in the Gaza Strip with "organized terrorism" and Egypt expressed their Palestinian support, U.S. President Barack Obama said he backs up Israel's right to "self defense."

Hamas responded to the assassination of their military chief Ahmed Jabari by saying Israel had "committed a dangerous crime and broke all redlines." Gaza militants launched rockets into Israel in retaliation for Israel's killing of Jabari in an Gaza airstrike on Wednesday, CBS reported.

"There is no justification for the violence that Hamas and other terrorist organisations are employing against the people of Israel," the U.S. State Department said.

The Israeli Defense Force has posted more soldiers by Gaza to make a strong front and assured the public that they will not back down in attempts to defend their borders.

"We recommend that no Hamas operatives, whether low level or senior leaders, show their faces above ground in the days ahead," the IDF tweeted. On Thursday they posted that the IDF "targeted approximately 70 underground medium range rocket launching sites in #Gaza. Direct hits were confirmed."

"Hamas has turned #Gaza into a frontal base for #Iran, terrorizing residents of Israel&forcing them to live under unbearable circumstances," another post said.

The IDF also tweeted that the numbers from Wednesday indicated that 250 terrorist sites were targeted by IDF in Gaza, 274 rockets have struck Israel and there were 105 Iron Dome interceptions. Israel's defenses include a network of interceptor missiles placed in different border locations, known as the Iron Dome.

A Hamas rocket killed three Israelis north of the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks rose to 13, Reuters reported Thursday. In a televised adress on the matter, Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi said the following: "We are in contact with the people of Gaza and with Palestinians and we stand by them until we stop the aggression. The Israelis must realize that this aggression is unacceptable and would only lead to instability in the region."